A OneSided Conversation
by metal goat
Summary: FE7 A collection of non sequitur RathWil ficlets. RathWil, shounen ai. Complete
1. Protector

Protector

Fire Emblem and its characters are © Nintendo  
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Wil doesn't need him anymore, Rath realizes suddenly. He can protect himself now.

Wil doesn't need him to guard him from the enemies anymore. Not to say that Wil couldn't defend himself before, but Wil did have a tendency to let the enemy sneak up behind him, or to let his arrow slip at the very last second so that it went careening off in some other direct, or choose, usually at the most inopportune times, like when he was just about to shoot down a Pegasus Knight or such, the only arrow that had only two fletchings instead of three, so that it would do a flip in the air instead of hit his target.

Wil doesn't need Rath to come in at the last second, shoot the enemy down when it gets too close to him. He doesn't need Rath to trail right behind him, keeping an eye out for anyone who would dare try to hurt them. Or if the tactician makes him move away from Wil, and Rath hates it when that happens, although he never protests, he doesn't need Rath to watch from the corner of his eye, making sure no enemies get too near.

It's been a year, a whole year, but it feels like so much more. So much wandering around and doing nothing, switching from job to job, all of them the same, just with different people, never really remembering a name or face. He had left without so much as a goodbye, because although he won't admit it, saying goodbye would hurt too much. It would hurt to see any one of them feel sad, and especially Wil, because Wil should never be sad, never lose that perfect smile from his face. Rath was just lucky that he had chosen the easier job over the harder one, even though it paid less, because then Lady Lyn would have never had found him, and then he would have never seen Wil again, never been able to smile so truly again.

Wil is so much different from he last saw him after that long, long, year. He's more confident, pays more attention, and just overall better at archery. He's even become a sniper. Rath remembered how proud Wil was when he said that, like finally had a reason to be proud. Rath didn't understand why; he always thought being that happy, and that kind, and his ability to make almost anyone smile, if he wasn't annoying them, that is, was enough reason to be proud, but he never said anything; it wasn't his place to comment on such matters.

He remembers everything about when he had met Wil for the second time. Everything said, everything done, who Rath killed and who Wil killed, which enemies came too close and died and which fled, barely making it out with their own life. Rath has always had a good memory, and sometimes he really hates it.

_"Look at me, Rath! I'm so good at archery now! I'm even a sniper. Can you believe it? It's so amazing. I won't need you to protect me now, Rath, I can defend myself now. You won't have to worry yourself with me, anymore. I can fight all by myself now…"_

But Rath _liked_ protecting him. Rath liked coming in at the last second, slaying the enemy that dared to try to hurt Wil, especially if it actually did. Sometimes Wil wouldn't notice it, before, when they were all traveling with Lady Lyn in command instead of Lord Eliwood, but that was all right, because when he did, he always gave Rath the most wonderful smile, like he was truly grateful, and that's all Rath ever needed. Because Wil has the most amazing smile, the kind that can make a bad day bad good and light up a whole room.

Rath still fights side-by-side with Wil, and he'll occasionally save Wil, but Wil doesn't need Rath to save him anymore. And that's the only thought that in his head, because he knows it's true, too true, and he hates it, because he has never been needed before, and the feeling's too precious to want forget, to leave behind as a thing of the past.

Wil doesn't need him anymore, Rath realizes suddenly. He can protect himself now.

Wil doesn't need his protector anymore.  
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...Yay repetition? There's more to be drabbles to be added, hopefully sometime this week. Well, R&R, kiddies, and concrit is very much wanted and appreciated. Also, if you must flame me, flame me because you don't like my story, not because it's a guy/guy pairing.


	2. Smiling

Wil is smiling. While this isn't an unusual occurrence in itself, it'd be odder if Wil _wasn't_ smiling, he's smiling far too broadly for it to be normal. And his cheeks are a very interesting shade of pink, so that's a dead give away that something happened.

Rath is also smiling. Only a little, but he almost never smiles, and to show it off so plainly to everyone else is practically unheard of.

They both just came back from practicing archery. Together. AndRebecca really doubts they were actually practicing archery.

Rebecca's not stupid; she can put two and two together.

She walks right up to Rath, though waits 'till no one else is around, and speaks, oddly calm.

"If you got Wil pregnant, I'll kill you."

She walks off, like nothing out of the ordinary happened, leaving a now very confused Rath staring after her.  
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...I amuse myself way too much. Hokay, thank you **Knight of Caelin** and **Ceolsige** for the reviews, they made me very happy. And everyone should read **Ceolsige's** story, _Home_, because it's awesome and funny and has RathWil. Okay, now R&R, kiddies, it's good for your soul. Or something. And next drabble will be longer, I promise, but I just felt like doing something slightly crack-ish.


	3. Deserts

Deserts, Wil decides, wiping the sweat from his brow, the burning midday sun beating down on his back, are entirely too hot. They're rather unnecessary, too. Because really, what grows out in the desert? What _lives_ out in the desert? What purpose does a desert have? Nothing. And besides being hot and unnecessary, deserts are very, very, annoying. There's so much sand, for one thing, and sand is so difficult to move around in. As you walk in sand, you'll slowly sink down and it becomes hard to move, and it's gets all in over you, even in those places you didn't think it would, Wil notes as he brushes sand out of ear, and it'll whip across your face and sting like crazy. Yes, Wil decides, deserts really are unnecessary.

"…You alright?" The question startles Wil slightly, he had forgotten about the outside world with his internal rant, so he looks to see where it came from. Squinting and using a hand to cover his eyes (that's another thing, Wil adds, deserts are much too bright), he looks up to see Rath, his nomadic companion.

"Eh, I'm alright, it's just that it's so hot, and so hard to move around in this stupid sand…" Wil answers, muttering somewhat, too bothered to really start a proper conversation.

"Then get on my horse," Rath tells him, quite suddenly, staring down at him, using his hand to block the sun out from his eyes. They both know that if being on a horse is more likely to slow his speed rather than increase it, but neither is really getting anywhere, anyway, and it's more comfortable that way; and he's less likely to get completely covered in sand.

"Eh?" is the only thing Wil can think to say in reply. It's understandable, though, because Rath hates riding with someone else unless it's absolutely necessary, so Wil figures that the sun's just fried his brain.

"Get on my horse," Rath repeats, almost using the frustrated tone that one might use with an annoying child. Wil stares at Rath incredulously for a moment, but the sun's glinting off Rath's earring something fierce, so Wil has to glance down and stare at Rath's horse incredulously instead.

"On your horse…?" Wil knows what he's saying is stupid and repetitive, but it's too hot and too bright out to think properly, and Wil and Rath's horse have never gotten along all that well. Quite badly, in fact, Wil remembers, thinking of the many times he's been thrown off the horse.

"Yes," Rath answers, no longer bothering to hide the exasperated tone in his voice. Wil stares at horse a moment more, unsure, but then nods his head, because it can't be _that _bad, right? Wil's glad Rath decided not to give his horse a saddle today, otherwise both might not have been able to fit. Rath gets off his horse and helps Wil up with relatively little trouble, but not without Wil nearly falling off at least once, because Wil's always had a lot of trouble getting on horses, and then gets on himself.

Deserts, Wil decides, leaning against Rath andsighing contently, really actually aren't all that bad. In fact, he thinks as Rath wraps his arm tighter around his waist, almost protectively, so he won't fall off, if you can ignore the heat and the sun, they're actually quite wonderful.  
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Arg, this is so lame. But it has a happy ending, so that makes up for the lameness. Sorta. And about the last story - no, Wil's not pregnant, it was a joke, albeit a weird one. Mpreg freaks me out so bad. But now I kinda want to write a story where rath and Wil have a kid...

Thanks for the reviews, **Ceolsige** and **Guardian Arrow**. And more reviews would be appreciated by other people, because I know you're reading this. I have 97 pagevies; I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! ...-cough-

Okay, and random plug time for **Ceolsige's **art: **www(dot)deviantart(dot)com/view/25579261/**


	4. Fever

Fever

11/28

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The sickness had struck unexpectedly. Well, most diseases aren't really expected, but this one struck with such force that all of the healers were immediately set to work and not allowed breaks.

Half the army had gotten sick. It wasn't a potentially dangerous disease, mostly just high-fevers and stuffy noses, but with that many people bedridden, or, considering their current situation, bed**roll**-ridden, it was quite a strain on the healers. Even Mark, the tactician that always helped them out so much in their battles, had gotten sick, and before then he had just seemed sort of impervious to everything.

While the medical tent was usually used for the sick or wounded and not all that crowded, it had way too many people in it right now. Serra had also gotten sick, along with everyone else, so that meant only Priscilla and the newly-promoted Lucius could heal people, and Lucius was still learning, so that wasn't helping much. The sick were commanded to stay in their tents to prevent further spreading of the disease, and everyone else had to stay near the center of the camp, tactician's order. If one of the healthy even so much as coughed or sniffled, they'd be sent back to their tent immediately, with the help, if you could call it that, of Serra (though she was sick, she decided, with an okay from Mark, that she should help out as much as she could. That form of help being bossing people around, something she was very good at).

Even though all healthy individuals were supposed to be at the center of the camp, trying not to get sick, one person was still in his tent with his sick tent mate, and that one person was Rath.

Rath ran a hand through his now bandana-less hair, sighing. He should have been at the center of the camp with everyone else, or what was **left **of everyone else. But when Wil had asked him to stay, even though he was feverish and delusional, Rath just had to say yes. Wil just looked so sick and pathetic; it would be like kicking a puppy if he said no. So there he was, sitting next to a very feverish Wil that was probably asleep and wouldn't notice his leaving, but wouldn't leave because he knew it wasn't right.

Rath put an ungloved hand on Wil's forehead, checking to see if the fever had gotten any better. It hadn't. He frowned; maybe he should get Lucius or Priscilla? Wil's fever was only getting worse, and although the illness wasn't fatal, supposedly, Rath didn't want Wil to get any sicker.

Deciding that getting a healer would be the best course of action, Rath stood up and was about to leave, when Wil grabbed his hand. He looked down, surprised, and stared rather lamely at his and Wil's connected hands.

"Don't… leave me…" Wil wheezed out pathetically. He did look really pitiful, actually, in his state of illness. The covers were wrapped tightly around him, making a sort of cocoon, and his cheeks and nose were a rosy pink color from him being so warm. Wil's breathing was slightly labored, and he had to squint to focus on anything. Wil had been once of the last to get sick, and it seemed considerably worse than the people who had gotten hit first.

"I should get a healer," Rath said, but didn't make a move to leave or let go of Wil's hand.

"They'll come later. I just… need you… to stay here…" Wil replied, almost breathless, tightening his grip on Rath's hand.

Rath was silent for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should really leave, but decided to stay. Wil was right; the healers were coming around to all the tents, but it might take a while with all of the people who were sick and being tended to. "Fine, I'll stay," he replied, sitting down next to Wil, not letting go of his hand.

"Good," Wil responded, and Rath could see him smile a little, despite the covers being pulled up to his chin. He pulled Rath's hand to his cheek, causing Rath to have to scoot closer to his bedroll, smile broadening.

"G'night," Wil mumbled, closing his eyes and snuggling up against Rath's hand.

Rath smiled a little, because even though he knew he was going to get in trouble for disobeying Mark's orders, and get a good tongue-lashing from Serra, he didn't mind. Because Wil was really cute like this, despite the sickness, and Rath didn't really didn't mind spending so much time with Wil, even if he was too sick to talk.  
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Ending's kind of meh, but it has sick!Wil and lots of fluff so it's okay. Thanks to all who reviewed, and FF should stop being screwy and tell me how many hits I have, dammit. Because it hasn't changed since the second chapter. Reviews much appreciated, and critique will be more so.


	5. Wanna Join?

Rath looked at Wil. Then Uhai. Then Wil again. Then Uhai again. Then back at Wil once more. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Rath was actually kind of funny looking like that, eyes bugging out and mouth hanging agape, very different from his usual calm, cool demeanor, and Wil would have laughed had it been any other situation.

Wil looked at his and Uhai's position, blushed hard, and was suddenly glad that they both still had their pants on. "Well, Rath… what a, uh, surprise. Ehehehe…" Wil laughed nervously, trying to ease the tension, suddenly wishing Uhai would let go of his waist. And maybe not hold him so closely. And that they were wearing shirts.

"You two were…" Rath trailed off, having once again lost the ability to speak.

Wil's stomach turned. Oh, he was such a horrible, horrible person! He had completely betrayed Rath's trust. And hadn't meant to, not really, but Uhai was just so good looking (not as good looking as Rath, though), and Wil had always had a thing for nomads, and Uhai was coming onto him, and…

"Wanna join?" Uhai asked, breaking Wil from his train of thought. Wil stared up at Uhai in shock. _What was he thinking!_ He had just been caught cheating on Rath, of course Rath didn't want to join! Though, the thought of both Uhai and Rath wasn't necessarily a bad thing…

Rath looked at Wil and Uhai for a moment before answering. "…Sure."  
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I'm so, so sorry. I've probably killed you all with the severe levels of crack. And I know it's technically not RathWil (it's RathWilUhai), but Uhai seriously doesn't get enough love. Because he's like, so incredibly awesome. But once again, I'm sorry. I wrote this when I had a fever, so my brain wasn't working quite right. And I'm only submitting this because I want to update, and the four other people who have seen this thought it was funny. So, go ahead flame me. I deserve it. And FF keeps eating my question marks. D:


	6. Nervous

Wil flips nervously through the channels, anxiously shifting in his seat, not bothering to stay at any channel for more than a few seconds. He even flips past the really bad 70's horror flick, but not before pausing a moment; it's the kind he loves watching just because they're so corny and bad even though they're not supposed to be.

Rath lounges next to him on the couch, relaxed, seemingly unaware of Wil's nervousness, watching the passing images uninterestedly.

Everything's become so much more complicated now that they're going out.

Before, Wil could just do whatever he wanted without feeling like he had to careful, like Rath was judging him or something, and he'd break-up with Wil the second Wil did something wrong. Before, if Wil was flipping through channels, he would have stayed at the horror film, one he's probably seen before because watching bad horror flicks is a hobby of his, and make funny commentary on everything so Rath would smile a little and laugh, because it was so rare for him to do so.

Wil stops his channel flipping for a second when he comes across another scary movie, he thinks he might have seen this one, but presses the button on the remote twice as hard when he realizes it's actually one of the scary ones. He used to love to watch the scary ones with Rath, because then he could snuggle up to Rath and grip onto him during the extra scary moments, and Rath would put his arm around Wil as if protecting him from the zombies or vampires or little dead girls or whatever the movie was about. And Wil used to pretend it meant something, before he learned that it actually did, and would always try not to blush but fail miserably.

Wil's half tempted to turn the TV off, not like anything's ever on, anyway, but then there would such an awkward silence and that would just kill him. He's focusing so hard on the TV that the colors are starting to blur, and he doesn't see Rath reach over until he grabs Wil's wrist and stops the channel surfing. Wil looks down at his wrist, surprised to see Rath's hand around it, and continues to watch as Rath lets go and pushes the 'off' button on the remote. The hand moves back to his wrist, grips it, and his other hand moves up to Wil's face, cupping it and lifting it upwards so that Wil has to stare directly at Rath. Wil drops the remote, because the grip on his wrist is tight, but not painful, and Rath's intense stare has made him forget what he was doing.

Wil can't even say anything, just sort of stares at Rath, but it doesn't matter, because soon Rath lunges at Wil, letting go of his wrist and face and pinning him down on the couch. And then Rath presses Wil's lips up against his own, and they're making-out on the couch, that horrible, ugly yellow leather couch, and Wil's gripping the side for support.

He doesn't make Rath stop even after he gets over the shock, because he really doesn't want Rath to, even though he knows his mom's just in the other room, and she could walk in on them at any second, and that would probably be the last he ever saw of Rath, but Wil doesn't care, because he's been dreaming of doing this with Rath since they first became friends and he's actually glad, for once, that they started going out.  
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I totally didn't forget about updating this. Really. And this AU, if you hadn't noticed. And fear the run-on sentences.

Sorry for any and all brains exploded because of the last drabble. It's Ceolsige's fault. Because I can blame her. And many, many thanks for all the reviews and the 390 pageviews! And as always, reviews and concrit are very much appreciated.


	7. Morning Person

There are many things in the world Rath is not, talkative being the most notable one, but two other rather notable ones are impulsive and a morning person.

Rath always carefully thinks out what he's going to do and what he's going to say, so that way he is less likely to make mistakes. So when he speaks, no matter how rare it may be, his words are always well planned out, as are his actions.

Rath, if given the choice, would sleep in as late as possible. But since he knows that is not a good idea to indulge on it too much, and since he's in the army now so he can't, he wakes up with the rest of the army, which is unfortunately sometime not too late after daybreak.

Though, since Rath is neither a) talkative, b) impulsive, or c) a morning person, he has to wonder why he hangs out with Wil, who is very talkative, very impulsive, and very much a morning person. And since Wil is all three of those things, that means very chatty mornings for Rath.

And Rath also has to wonder why, since he's neither impulsive nor a morning person, he is kissing Wil, full on the lips, in front of all to see, at Elimine-only-knows what hour in the morning, just to shut him up.  
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I could have sworn I submitted this. Oh well, guess not. Well... nothing much to say about this other than I like the thought of Rath not being a morning person. So, um... yeah. R&R, kiddies, and concrit is still very much appreciated. Also, happy December to everyone.


	8. Breathless

When Wil was around Rath, he felt like he couldn't breath. Every touch, kiss, and caress made his breath hitch, made him feel dizzy from lack of air, like he was going to faint.

Too much, too much, it was too much; everything was too much. Too many emotions, guilt, love, confusion, hate, joy, embarrassment, when he was around Rath.

"I feel like I can't breath, Rath," Wil told him once, after Rath had kissed him, had left him breathless. "When you kiss me, I feel like I can't breath."

"Then don't," Rath commanded, like it was that easy, leaning into kiss him again. "It's easier if you don't."

Wil listened to his advice. And as Rath kissed him again, harder, faster, more forceful than before, as if purposefully trying to take the breath from Wil, make him dizzy, Wil realized Rath was right. It's easier if you don't breath.

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Yes, this drabble has absolutely no meaning. ...Yay?

Arg, I keep forgetting to update this. I'm so sorry! I'll try updating sooner next time, but I really didn't write much over the break and I have finals coming up in like, two weeks so I have a lot of homework and I'm busy a lot. But I really will try to write something for this soon.


	9. Unexpected

It was sudden, unexpected. He was prone to being impulsive, yes, but he had been working on that, so the kiss had come as a complete surprise to both of them.

There were no words shared after it, just a silence, not awkward or oppressive, just a pause in time, a gap between one moment to the next when they both had to breath, fully comprehend the situation, before Wil had taken off running. Rath hadn't gone after him, he didn't know where Wil had gone, and he was to shocked to do really anything.

It wasn't spoken about the next day, or even the next day after that, and everything continued on as normal, though there was an unresolved tension between the two; one that ate away at Wil and made him feel sick to his stomach and dizzy, like he was going to faint.

It was odd, not being rejected. He hadn't expected acceptance, had thought there would be rejection, but neither rejection nor acceptance came. It was just an emptiness, an incompleteness, a missing piece, and it was much more unsettling to Wil than being rejected was, because it left everything open ended and made Wil wonder if he had broken more than he could fix.

There was another kiss a few days later, though only one was left confused this time. And then, after a moment of confusion, of wondering what had happened, Wil smiled, because he hadn't initiated the kiss that time.  
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Ah, there are probably run-on sentences in here. Oh well. Anyways, this is officially my last drabble. Unless I have a sudden urge to write RathWil drabbles, I'm reallynot going to add more to this. I've lost interest in it, and not too many people are reading it anymore, so it's not like a whole bunch of people are going to be upset about it. And I've got two mulit-chaptered AUs and a crack drabble to finish, so I've got to get those done.

Also, for the sake of shamelessly plugging myself, I update my dA account much more than I'll ever update my FF account. So here's a link: **anime-kisekae(dot)deviantart(dot)com**. Sanity need not apply.


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